Recently, a load of Warhammer games have been picked up and republished on Steam. We will be covering some in more detail in coming weeks. But here is a round up of one of the bundles that is available currently. It’s worth noting that almost of all of these are complete packages that include any DLC or extra content released.
Space Hulk and Space Hulk: Ascension
We have covered both Space Hulk and Ascension before a good
few years ago. The first Space Hulk game does a pretty good job of recreating
the board game experience. As a result, though it can feel slow and clunky in
places. Ascension adds a bit more into the mix with the ability to level up
your characters and having maps created from scratch. Both games are incredibly
tough, but fans of the original game or Warhammer 40,000 are well served here.
Just don’t expect anything too pacey.
Warhammer: Dark Omen and Warhammer: Shadow of the
Horned Rat
Our first experience of both these games was with their
release on the first PlayStation. You would have hoped that using a mouse would
have brought a better control scheme, but they are extremely clunky with a very
small window to view the actual battlefield from, as most of the screen is
filled with the user interface. Yes, instead of using the mouse you must
control the game with different on screen buttons. These were clearly developed
with the console ports in mind. If you can get into them, they are tough and
engrossing, but we really struggled and found the games far too frustrating to
stay with for long. Still, if you want to take on hordes of Skaven or the
Undead it certainly has some scale to it.
Warhammer: Mark of Chaos
Finally, proper mouse controls come to Warhammer. Many see
this as the sort of precursor to Total Warhammer. It’s like the Lord of the
Rings strategy games in terms of it using smaller groups of characters and
telling its own story. There are campaigns from the Empire and Chaos sides with
the DLC adding the Orcs and Goblins. Further races such as Dark Elves and
Skaven can be played in multiplayer. It’s certainly not perfect but it’s a game
we fought our way through on the Xbox 360 and loved, and naturally it plays a
whole lot better here. It’s a lot of fun with a solid campaign and a decent
enough multiplayer mode. A good progression from Shadow of the Horned Rat and
Dark Omen and though it’s lost a bit in terms of looks it plays perfectly fine
still.
Final Liberation
This is the PC attempt at getting Warhammer 40K Epic into
game form. The controls are pretty good and it’s easy to identify your troops
and move them around. There is also a ton of units and things you can do with
them. It is crazily tough though. Taking on the first mission on the easiest
setting we found our Marines always missed their shots, while simple groups of
Orks managed to destroy heavily armoured vehicles. Once you get the hang of it
though it’s an engaging game that certainly deserves a second life.
Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Gate
Note, this is the older version of the game. The Games
Workshop attempt at UFO: Enemy Unknown. Build your squad, equip them and then
send them into different missions to take down imperial cultists and demons. It
works well and there are a ton of customisations and weapon options available
for tackling levels in different ways. You can even use terminator marines and
other specialist categories like apothecaries and tech marines. It looks dated
but plays well. It’s worth playing for fans and we can see people losing a good
few hours of their lives to it.
Warhammer 40,000 Fire Warrior
Looked upon as a disappointment on release, Fire Warrior is
a perfectly ok FPS game. Now the hype has died down it certainly has it charm
(although it was certainly never going to be a Halo killer). You play as a lone
Tau warrior trying to fight off the Space Marines and forces of Chaos. It plays
well, has some impressive set pieces and runs at a decent pace. It certainly is
never going to be a stone cold classic, but fans of the theme and genre will
find a lot to like here.
Warhammer 40,000 Rites of War
It seems there is no genre or template untouched by
Warhammer. While Chaos Gate took on the Enemy Unknown template, Rites of War goes
down the turn based hexagonal grid route and draws inspiration from Panzer
General. The game has players taking control of the Eldar as they first fight,
then unite with imperial forces to fend off a Tyranid Hive fleet.
Like a lot of these games, it’s a mix of good and bad. The
classic mechanics are addictive and work well but missions are overly repetitive
and pestered by small annoyances. Enemies have a habit of running away and healing
before you can finish them off and characters can only carry a single object,
so if you get to the end of a mission with no troops left to pick up that vital
artefact you can’t complete the mission. And no, you can’t drop other objects
already picked up. All that said, the core of the game is good. If you are
looking for something that’s a bit more of a slow burn approach to Warhammer,
then this is well worth a look.
Man O’War Corsair
Corsair is pretty much the definition of being an overlooked
gem, if it was an indie game at least. It’s certainly the Games Workshop game
which had the most potential if it had continued to be updated. It’s basically
a rip-roaring pirate adventure set in the Warhammer world. Not only can you
fire on other ships at range but also board them and let crews fight it out on
deck.
There’s certainly a lot to like but the game is unpolished
and messy. A lot of the ports look the same, sea monsters descend into predictable
attack patterns and while naval combat is fun, when you get up close it looks
tired and feels clunky. If you are forgiving though there’s a lot of ambition
here to admire.
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